by Jeremiah Mosbey | Sep 28, 2021 | From Advanced to National-Class, Judging/Judges, Strategy
If you’ve been reading my blog articles for a while, you knew that this was coming. Earlier this year, the NCFCA announced their rule changes for 2022, with this being one of the revisions: “Only the Affirmative speaker (LD) or 1st Affirmative speaker (TP) may...
by Jeremiah Mosbey | Mar 23, 2021 | From Intermediate to Advanced, Judging/Judges, Strategy
A couple of years ago, Harrison wrote a couple of excellent articles (here and here) delving into the different types of debate judges, and the pros and cons of each style. While we all understand the fact that there are different kinds of judges, it’s still very...
by Anthony Severin | Dec 21, 2020 | Judging/Judges, Speaking, Technique, Theory
We Ethos coaches frequently hear despair about how judges receive theory-heavy arguments. There’s a perception that judges despise topicality, counterplans never win rounds, and hardly anybody has even heard of a kritik… and those who have heard of a kritik just think...
by Jeremiah Mosbey | Dec 1, 2020 | Debate Blog, From Intermediate to Advanced, Judging/Judges, Strategy, Thinking Strategically
A critical aspect of marketing is understanding the consumer. While it may not seem like it at first glance, debate has everything to do with marketing. You present the judge with a case, and you must prove that your case, or “product,” is better than your opponent’s....
by Harrison Durland | Sep 9, 2019 | For Alumni, Judging/Judges, Soapbox, TP
In the previous article in this series, I broadly described hybrid and purist judging approaches, but I didn’t dive into comparing the approaches’ pros and cons. Thus, I will devote this article to outlining some of the main arguments I see for and against each...
by Harrison Durland | Aug 16, 2019 | For Alumni, Judging/Judges, Soapbox
Yes, I absolutely used to sneer at community judging—as well as anything else that I didn’t see as very flow-heavy and “objective.” Thus, in high school I resolved that when I returned to judge policy debate I would be a righteous and noble flow monk, steadfast in...
